Sliding-door hanging



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

EPRESGOTT.

Sliding Door Hanging. No. 238,310. Patented March 1,1881.

N'PCKEISI PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON D C (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet2.

E. PRESCOTT. Sliding Door Hanging.

No; 238,310. PatenfedMrch'l, I881.

ATM-155:5, INVEN EI Q UNITED STATES l PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN PRESCOTT, OF HAMPTON FALLS, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SLIDING-DOOR HANGING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 238,310, dated March 1,1881.

Application filed October 30, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN PREsoo'rr, of Hampton Falls, Rockinghamcounty, State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement inHangingsfor Sliding Doors, of which the following description, with theaccom pan ying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hangers for doors, gates,850., of that class wherein the doors, gates, &c., are arranged to sliderather than to swing; and my present invention is an improvement onUnited States Patents No. 183,325, October 17, 1876, and N 0. 196,990.November 13, 1877, and No. 205,763, July 9, 1878, heretofore granted tome, and to which reference may be had. In this class of hanger theweight of the levers must be so proportioned or balanced with relationto their points of support as to obviate the tendency of the center ofgravity of the hangers to seek the center line of their mean support.

One chief object of this my present invention is to counterbalance theweight of the hanger, and thus overcome its tendency toward equilibriumor its center of gravity. I have arranged the common pivot of the doorand post levers at the door-jamb side of the intersecting point of linesdrawn longitudinally along the door and post levers, and intersectingtheir points of connection or bearing upon the post and door, sucharrangement of pivots causing the door to rise as it is opened, enablingit to act as a counter-balance to the weight of the hanger or thetendency of the levers to spread at their ends, turning about the commonpivot. For very heavy doors, where heavy hangers are used,- thisarrangement alone would not suffice.

Patent No. 205,763, July 9,1878, shows a hanger in which the ends of thedoor and post levers connected with the door are longer than are theirarms connected with the post or building, thus enabling me to utilizethe weight of the door, as therein, described, to counteract thegravitating tendency of the hanger; but with such levers the horizontalmovement of the door is less than would be the case were the levers ofequal length from their common pivot, and consequently the width of thedoor and its horizontal movement were both circumscribed.

In order to enable the hanger to give to a door the greatest horizontalmovement possible, I have discovered that the ends of the hangers fromthis common center or pivot should be of substantially equal length; butwith levers of equal length, as in my Patent No. 183,325, October 17,1876, there was no provision made for the rise of the door in order toenable it to act as a counter-balance to the gravitation of the hangers.So, to enable me to use this class of hangers having levers not sounequal in length, but that along horizontal movement may be obtained,and at the same time impart to the door a rising movement when opening,I have devised the simple plan of placing the common pivot of the twolevers on the doorjamb side of the point of intersection of lines drawnlongitudinally through the end centers or connections of the levers withthe door and building or post. The greater the distance of this pivotfrom the longitudinal lines referred to, the greater the rise of thedoor. In order to effect a perfect counter-balance by simply changingthe location of 7 5 this common pivot, Ifound in very heavy doors, whenheavy hangers were used, that the rise given to the door was more thanwas desirable, and to prevent excessive rise, and yet enable me to availmyself of much of the advantage to be derived from this peculiarlocation of the common pivot of the levers, I devised for the hangers acounter-balance which I can easily proportion in weight to the weight ofthe hanger and door.

Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a door hung in accordance withmy invention,'the door being shown as open; and Fig.2 shows it partiallyclosed.

The door a, at its inner edge or side, is supported by the door-lever b,connected with it at c, and pivoted at its upper end, at 0, upon the endof a counterbalancing-lever, d, having a movable fulcrum, d, the saidfulcrum being preferably supported by a pivoted link, 1 The lever d hasupon it a suitable weight, 61 Between this movable fulcrum d and thepivot 0, I connect with the said lever, at e, a radiushar, e, pivoted tothe post 6 at 0 or other proper permanent part of the building, thelength of the said bare between its pivots e 6 being equal to the lengthof the lever 61 between the pivots e and c.

The so-called post-lever f is pivoted at one end to the post 6 by thepivot f, and at its other end it is connected, as herein shown, by thepivotf with a lever,f having a movable fu1crum,f (shown as entered intoa slot in a guide, 9, connected with the door at its inner edge.) Thisleverf has pivoted upon it, at 2, a radiusbar, 3, the other end of whichis also pivoted to'the door at 4, and is of a length equal to thedistance between the pivots 2 andf These two levers b andfhave a commonpivot, h, which is located at the doorjamb side of the dotted lines,(see Figs. 1 and 2,) drawn longitudinally through the centers or pivotsc cfj' oi the said levers, the said common pivot h being more or lessremoved from these longitudinal lines, according to the distance it isdesired to pcrmit the door to rise while being opened, as beforedescribed.

Theweighted lever 61. having a movable fulcrum, and the radius-barconnected with it, constitute What 1 herein denominate the comm--terbalancing mechanism for the hanger.

The radius-bar e, joined with the post and lever 67, constitutes aparallel-motion connection or device to direct and insure propervertical movement of the loose end of the doorlever. The radius-bar 3and leverf insure a like movement for the loose end of the postends ofthe crossed levers bf are below rather than above their common pivot, aswould be represented were the drawing Fig. 1 turned upside down.

I claim- 1. In hangers for sliding doors, the postlever and door-leverhaving a common pivot or center located at the door-jamb side oflongitudinal lines drawn through the pivots or connections of the saidlevers with. the door and post, substantially as described.

2. A hanger for a sliding door, composed, essentially, of a post-leverand door-lever having a common center, in combination with a connectedcounter-balance to counterbalance the weight of the hanger, as and forthe purpose specified.

3. In a door-hanger for sliding doors, the door-lever and post-leverhaving a common fulcrum or pivot, combined with levers cl and f havingmovable fulcra and radius-bars, the said levers d and f and the saidradius-bars being connected with the free or movable ends of the postand door levers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of twosubscribing witnesses.

EDWIN PRESCOTT.

NVitnesses G. W. GREGORY, ARTHUR REYNOLDS.

